During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.
Goldman Sachs, Point72 and others invest $44 million in business credit startup Nav from Reuters – We start the week off with yet another big funding round. This time small business credit marketplace Nav has closed a $44m round from the likes of Goldman Sachs and Point72.
Amazon’s lending perpetuates the tech giant’s control over small businesses from Tearsheet – Amazon remains tightlipped about their small business lending operation but as Tearsheet reports these loans come with some potentially onerous restrictions.
Why has the FCA Refused the Application of Mintos and has the Decision any Consequences? from P2P-Banking – Interesting piece from P2P-Banking today on the move by Latvian lending marketplace Mintos into the UK and their rejection by the FCA.
Why venture capitalists love fintechs from American Banker – With so many funding rounds announced already this year it is clear that venture capitalists are still enamored with fintech. American Banker looks at some of the numbers in the recent CB Insights report.
SoFi held talks to acquire a fintech backing some of the hottest robo advisors as it eyes expansion beyond its lending roots from Business Insider – Interesting story about SoFi in Business Insider. They tried to acquire Apex Clearing, a digital wealth custodian, but could not agree to terms so instead they made a minority investment.
UK fintech unicorn Revolut forced to deny links to Russia from Business Insider – It seems that Revolut is in the news every day right now, this time it is accusations of political meddling in Lithuania, the country where they obtained their European banking license.
Dear Congress: Time to clarify ‘true lenders’ from American Banker – Interesting op-ed in American Banker on the “true lender” issue. I completely agree that Congress needs to act on this issue so that banking is not hobbled by a 20th century mindset.
A record 7 million Americans are 3 months behind on their car payments, a red flag for the economy from The Washington Post – There is a record number of auto loan delinquencies today. Is this the canary in the coal mine signaling the next recession? Maybe. Interesting that loans issued by the car companies are performing the worst.
Consumer lender Insikt rebrands as Aura from American Banker – Non-prime consumer lender Insikt is rebranding to Aura. They explained the origins of the new name this way: comparing a person’s aura to a credit score, saying, “It seems invisible, but it matters a lot.”
Starling Bank, now with 460K consumer accounts, raises £75M more for European expansion from TechCrunch – The strong fundraising start to the year for fintech continues with UK digital bank Starling Bank closing a £75m funding round.
Square’s banking bid avoids backlash that doomed Walmart’s from American Banker – While hurdles remain Square’s ILC application is receiving broad support and industry observers are optimistic it will be approved.
Citi rolls out new personal loan, online savings account from American Banker – Now, this is interesting. Citi is rolling out a new loan product they are calling Citi Flex Loan where credit card customers can convert part of a revolving credit line into a loan with a fixed APR.
German Lending Marketplace auxmoney Overtakes Midsize Banks in Consumer Loan Origination from Crowdfund Insider – The leading German online lending platform auxmoney issued €551 million of new personal loans in 2018, outperforming many medium sized German banks.
CommonBond gets $750 million in lending funds from top banks from American Banker – Big news from CommonBond this week as they announced an additional $750m in lending capacity from some of the biggest names in banking.
Zopa names new P2P chief and chairman from P2P Finance News – It is the end of an era in the UK. Giles Andrews, one of the co-founders of the world’s first p2p lending platform Zopa is stepping down as Chairman with Gordon McCallum being appointed to replace Giles.
From the Lend Academy Forum
The Lend Academy forum is where investors go to discuss p2p lending. Below are some topics that were being discussed this week.
Faster payment processing coming soon. – LendingClub’s announcement of faster payment processing means some changes to the secondary market.
Notes Disappeared – One LendingClub investor is reporting a handful of missing notes according to their account statement.
Cumulative ROI by Vintage Beginning 14Q1 – One Year Update – A forum member shares the latest tables on cumulative ROI by vintage.
